Several of the international vendors participating in the 23rd International Peace Market, or Mercado de Paz, today and Saturday are veterans of the larger event. Some of the artists will be on hand to meet and talk to customers.

“We're always listening, watching to educate the local community 'cause we have stereotypes that it's Mexico, it's cheaply done, you can buy it cheaply, because that's what we're used to doing,” Sanchez says. “We want people to meet the artists and let them tell you the stories of how it took them a month, three months to make the piece you're going to buy, and how it's natural dyes.”

Here is a sampling of the artists who will be at the market:

Red Binacional Nui Matat Papawika: The name of the network made up of co-ops and individual artists comes from the word for “woman” in three indigenous Mexican dialects: Zapotec, Nahuatl and Raramuri. In July, Sanchez and other Esperanza staffers traveled to Mexico and visited with the Red. The network includes artisans from 20 states in Mexico, including Chiapas, Chihuahua, Hidalgo and Oaxaca.

“We learned about how the network is training these women to better promote themselves, develop themselves; giving them access to enter into markets in the U.S. because they're struggling,” Sanchez says.

Items network members will have at the Peace Market include tablillas, or decorative wooden pieces from Chihuahua; and textiles including chalinas (scarves) and rebozos (shawls) from Puebla.

Taller Leñateros: Sanchez became determined to bring the publishing collective to San Antonio after seeing one of its books at the New York home of art and literary critic Tómas Ybarra-Frausto. She succeeded a few years ago “and people really wanted them back,” Sanchez says.

Taller Leñateros is operated by Mayan artists in Chiapas. Members write, illustrate and publish books made of natural fibers produced in their own factory. Maruch Mendes Peres, leader of the collective, will be at the Peace Market.

Teresa López Jiménez: On the trip to Mexico, Sanchez also went to Juchitan a town on the isthmus of Oaxaca that López Jiménez, an artisan, likens to “San Antonio without air conditioning.”

López Jiménez and her sisters make huipiles and other textiles using the traditional Zapotec technique of cross-stitching and hand embroidery.

“We went and visited and that's all they were doing, showing us how to make those huipiles,” Sanchez says.

López is bringing artwork and textiles by other artists who were unable to attend.

Magdalena Pedro Martínez: The artist from San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca, studied medicine, but her focus is now on working with black clay. She creates figures of women, each wearing traditional garments native to one of the eight regions of Oaxaca.

“Another desire we have is to bring in women. Other shows might not think about if (the artists) are male or female, and so we do,” Sanchez says. “When we were looking through a book about the top Oaxacan artists, we looked at that picture (of Pedro Martínez), and it's like, ‘We want to see her.'”

Irene Aguilar: She is not the most famous of the pottery-making Aguilar sisters of Ocotlán de Morelos, Oaxaca. (That honor goes to Josefina.) But Irene is known for her passionate efforts to preserve her indigenous culture, which she does in part through her work in clay. Her figures of village women are dressed in detailed depictions of the traditional clothing of her region.

Vásquez family: The rug weavers of Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, are among the artisans hardest hit by the drop in tourism to Mexico, Sanchez says. “They were the ones probably most dependent on the tourism trade, so their whole community was really thriving, and now with people not traveling, it's like a ghost town,” she says.

The Vásquez family is among the best known, having pioneered the return to natural dyes and pure wool. Rugs may take months to complete and can be expected to last a minimum of 40 years.

The International Peace Market is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday at Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, 922 San Pedro Ave. Admission is free. Call 210-228-0201 or go to www.esperanzacenter.org.